The Dangerous Gate (2020) was a professional wrestling event promoted by Dragon Gate (DG). The event took place on September 21, 2020, in Tokyo at the Ota Ward General Gymnasium and it was the seventh annual event under the Dangerous Gate name.
The event featured a six-way steel cage survival match between YAMATO facing KAI, Eita, BxB Hulk, Big R Shimizu, and Masato Yoshino. The event aired on GAORA and the Dragon Gate Network streaming service. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the event had some restrictions in the attendance, after the Japanese Government lifted the State of Emergency.
Production[]
Background[]
The Dangerous Gate 2020 was officially announced in July 2020. The aired live through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Dragon Gate Network, with Japanese and English language commentaries. The Japanese commentary was provided by Katsuya Ichikawa, while the English commentary was provided by Jae Church. The event also aired on tape delay on Japanese TV Gaora Sports that was launched in Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series. On August 23, Dragon Gate announced that all tickets for the were sold out.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic[]
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. On March 1, Dragon Gate began canceling events starting with the Glorious Gate tour between March 3 and March 8 and the March 13th show, including a show on March 5 in the Korakuen Hall. Initially, it was announced that the Glorious Gate would be resumed on March 14, however, the tour ended up being canceled, following the recommendations by the Japanese Ministry of Health regarding the coronavirus pandemic. On March 11, it was announced that the Memorial Gate in Wakayama would be postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 22, Dragon Gate began holding shows behind closed doors with no audience and only essential staff present. Four days later, Dragon Gate canceled more events from March 28 through March 31. This led to on March 30, Dragon Gate canceling more events from April 4 through April 8. On April 8, Dragon Gate canceled more events including 2020 Dead or Alive, following Japan's declaration State of Emergency. On May 11, Dragon Gate canceled more events from June 2 through June 10. From May 15 to June 7, Dragon Gate held the entire 2020 King of Gate behind closed doors with no audience and only essential staff present, leading all Dragon Gate programming being relocated to the Kobe Lapis Hall. The format of the tournament was changed to a singles elimination tournament for the first time in four years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 12, Dragon Gate announced the rules and regulations for fans who attend Dragon Gate events. On June 17, it was announced that starting on July 4, Dragon Gate would be resuming shows with fans after the Japanese Government lifted the State of Emergency.
Storylines[]
The Dangerous Gate (2020) featured professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines that played out on the Dragon Gate's television program. Wrestlers portrayed heroes or villains as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Eita, who took part in the six-way steel cage survival match at the main event
The Dangerous Gate (2020) featured a six-way steel cage survival match between YAMATO, KAI, Eita, BxB Hulk, Big R Shimizu, and Masato Yoshino. In December 2019, R.E.D began a "Generation War" against Toryumon and Dragon Gate. On June 7, Eita defeated Naruki Doi in the finals to win the 2020 King of Gate. Afterwards, Eita started to berate Doi, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to dare him to challenge Doi to a title match. This also led to Eita mocking Doi's partner Yoshino for his upcoming retirement, stating that he would consider giving Doi the privilege of defending the Open The Dream Gate Championship against him if Yoshino retired. On June 28, tensions began to arise in R.E.D, after Eita, Hulk, and Shimizu defeated the Dragon Gate trio of Kota Minoura, U-T and YAMATO, Eita told Hulk to join him in dressing down Shimizu for his recent mistakes, leading Hulk to refuse, stating that he wasn’t just a henchman for Eita. This was further complemented after YAMATO mocked Hulk for being Eita's servant after Hulk helped Eita defeating YAMATO during the 2020 King of Gate semifinals. Eita also began teasing Yoshino to retire. During this night, Yoshino began feuding with KAI and YAMATO, after calling them out, due to wanting to retire on his terms. On July 5, Yoshino teamed with his Toryumon stablemates Naruki Doi and Shuji Kondo in a winning effort against R.E.D (Eita, H.Y.O, and Takashi Yoshida). Afterwards, R.E.D attacked Yoshino, until Dragon Gate made the save. Yoshino then entered an argument with Eita, KAI, and YAMATO on the sidelines. The six-way steel cage survival match between YAMATO, KAI, Eita, Hulk, Shimizu, and Yoshino was announced on July 16. Three days later, the GM Takayuki Yagi announced the rules for the match.
Masato Yoshino, who took part in the six-way steel cage survival match at the main event
On August 8, it was agreed on the stipulations of the match:
- If Eita didn't escape first, he would have to defend the Open The Dream Gate Championship against a member of Dragon Gate. If he lost the match he would have to join Dragon Gate.
- KAI would be forced to leave Dragon Gate if he lost, and join R.E.D if he escaped first.
- YAMATO would be forced to wrestle in plain white briefs, shoes and socks and cut his hair if he lost.
- BxB Hulk would be forced to revert to his real name Terumasa Ishihara and join Mochizuki Dojo as a rookie if he lost.
- If Yoshino lost, he would be forced to retire and subsequently face Doi in his retirement match, while also having to shave his hair.
- For Shimizu, he would be forced to shave part of his hair and revert to his original ring name Ryotsu Shimizu.
On August 12, YAMATO, KAI, Eita, Hulk, Shimizu, and Yoshino faced each other in a six-way elimination match, where the winner of each fall would earn the right to change their cage match entry number with another competitor. In the event that they don’t wish to change their own, they could change it for someone else. As a result of the match, it was decided that Shimizu would enter first, KAI in second, Eita in third, Hulk in fourth, YAMATO in fifth, and Yoshino in sixth and last place. Afterwards, YAMATO and Yoshino have shown displeasure towards the result leading to a six-man tag team match on September 9 to decide the entry number. On September 9, Eita, Shimizu and YAMATO defeated KAI, Hulk and Yoshino, with Shimizu pinning Yoshino, leading Shimizu to change Eita's entry number for the last entry of the match, which in turn lead to Yoshino's entry number being changed to number 3 as part of the stipulation for the match.
In the Open The Brave Gate Championship match, Kaito Ishida defended his title against Yosuke♥Santa Maria. On September 9, Maria challenged Ishida for a title match. However, Ishida only agreed for the title with the condition of being in the opener due to Maria being a "comedy jobber". The event also featured a singles match between Kzy and Naruki Doi, after Kzy challenged Doi to a match as part of the "Generation War", between Dragon Gate, Toryumon and R.E.D.
Entry order[]
| No. | Wrestler | Unit | Logo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Big R Shimizu | R.E.D | 
|
| 2. | KAI | Dragon Gate | 
|
| 3. | Masato Yoshino | Toryumon | 
|
| 4. | BxB Hulk | R.E.D |
|
| 5. | YAMATO | Dragon Gate |
|
| 6. | Eita | R.E.D |
|
Six-way steel cage survival match rules[]
- The six competitors entered in order based on numbers drawn as part of a match on August 12, with the first and second competitor starting the match, the third entered after five minutes, the fourth after four minutes, and the fifth and sixth entered after three minutes each.
- A competitor can escape the cage by climbing to the top and retrieving a flag. The match starts with one flag, with another being added as the next competitor entered the match. The fifth and final flag was added when the sixth and final competitor entered the match.
Matches[]
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | H.Y.O vs. Kento Kobune ended in a time limit draw | Singles match | 10:00 |
| 2 | Kaito Ishida (c) defeated Yosuke♥Santa Maria | Singles match for the Open The Brave Gate Championship | 13:45 |
| 3 | Dragon Gate (Keisuke Okuda, Punch Tominaga, U-T and Mondai Ryu defeated Yasushi Kanda, Kagetora, Gamma and Ho Ho Lun | Eight-man tag team match | 8:30 |
| 4 | Último Dragón, Shuji Kondo and Masaaki Mochizuki defeated Toryumon (Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito) | Six-man tag team match | 14:01 |
| 5 | Kzy defeated Naruki Doi | Singles match | 11:31 |
| 6 | R.E.D (Takashi Yoshida, Kazma Sakamoto and Diamante) defeated Dragon Gate (Ben-K, Strong Machine J and Dragon Dia)(c) | Six-man tag team match for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship | 16:08 |
| 7 | Dragon Gate (Jason Lee and Kota Minoura) (c) defeated Torumon (Susumu Yokosuka and Dragon Kid) | Tag Team match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship | 20:14 |
| 8 | KAI, BxB Hulk, YAMATO, Eita and Masato Yoshino defeated Big R Shimizu | Six-Way Steel Cage Survival match | 36:40 |
| |||
Order of Escape[]
| Number | Wrestler | Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KAI | 13:18 | ||||
| 2 | BxB Hulk | 21:40 | ||||
| 3 | YAMATO | 25:42 | ||||
| 4 | Eita | 30:14 | ||||
| 5 | Masato Yoshino | 36:40 | ||||
| Loser: | Big R Shimizu (Shimizu was forced to shave part of his hair and revert to his original ring name Ryotsu Shimizu, as per the stipulation) | |||||